Towards an effect-based model for airports and cities

Large airports are enormous built structures occupying vast areas of land. The core components of any airport are its runway system, technical facilities, terminal buildings, and buildings for supporting services such as maintenance, freight, security, boarding, and the landside access system of roads, parking, and rails. Adding to that are secondary, auxiliary, or enhancing functions such as shopping, hotels, conference centers, offices, and logistics. The central areas around the terminals of very large airports, often hubs or secondary hubs, can equal or surpass their mother cities’ central areas in size, as is the case in Amsterdam. (see Figure 13.1.